Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

This book is a hilarious and perilous adventure, filled with action, goofy puns, and a nice helping of heart. When I read the author’s bios and saw that they write for kids’ TV, it all made so much sense–the book reads like an animated movie. It’s full of larger-than-life characters who make you laugh out loud (Captain Kevin Adventureson is incredibly clueless and yet full of himself, but he still manages to be lovable at the same time) and the kind of hold-your-breath swashbuckling adventures that keep you turning the pages. I promise you will never get bored when you read this book. But it doesn’t feature all that action at the expense of character development–I especially loved Mike’s journey toward understanding that it’s okay to take risks sometimes. He’s always been cautious and overprotective of his little sister Dani, especially since she got hurt when he was supposed to be… Read more »

I’ve got four reviews for you today: two Middle Grades, a YA, and a YA series . I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! This is one of those books that takes you into the heart and mind of a character whose experiences you might not be able to completely relate to—and you come out all the richer for it in the end. The story focuses on Iris, a Deaf girl who struggles to communicate with many of the people around her and to find her place in a world that doesn’t seem to know how to define her. When she learns of a whale with a similar issue, Blue 55, who can’t communicate with other whales, she makes it her mission in life to let him know there’s someone out there who understands him. I connected to Iris right away, even when I… Read more »

I’ve got four reviews for you today, a YA mystery, a YA contemporary, a YA historical fiction and a MG fantasy. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! I always think I don’t really like mysteries, but then I read a book like this and it blows me away and I just want MORE! I have no idea how to review this book without giving things away, so I’m actually not going to say much at all except that I read this in one day (practically in one sitting), and I LOVED every minute of the reading experience. Okay, at the very beginning, I wasn’t so sure I was going to like Owen (the MC) and his friends, and there were a few moments when I thought certain characters were being ridiculously judgy toward the Owen (and his responses weren’t always great). But the story was engrossing,… Read more »

This series is a fun middle grade romp through Camelot! What Fed My Addiction: King Arthur! I love all things Camelot, so the concept of this book had me hooked right from the start. Kids can get a little lesson on these epic characters in a fun format! (This makes me want to reread A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.) The story gives us a lot of the original Arthurian legends and then puts them in a spin cycle. Video games. Sophie and Stu love RPG-style video games, and I could see how this one would be lots of fun. They also sounded like realistic kids—I’ve had some of these same arguments with my teenagers over the value of video games vs. “real life” and their arguments mirror Sophie and Stu’s pretty nicely. (I was glad that there was a balance between the idea that video games can be a worthwhile… Read more »

I’ve got four YA reviews for you today, two fantasy, one sci-fi and a contemporary. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! This book is the high-stakes conclusion to the Rosemarked non-magical fantasy duology. This second book in the duology felt very different from the first, mostly because it focuses on the aftermath of the choices that Zivah and Dineas made in book one and on the battles that ensue. My favorite part of this book was seeing Dineas deal with the repercussions of his dual life—he’s now an outsider to both his own people and the Amparans. He sees the Amparans as the enemy, but he also knows some of them as friends and he understands them in ways he hadn’t before. His own people look at him with distrust and sometimes outright hostility. His struggle to come to terms with these things… Read more »

This series gives us a fun spin on a fantasy world inhabited by elves, dwarves and humans (not to mention some twisted otherworldly monsters). Zed is half elf and has spent his life trying to prove he’s worthy of attention. He’s always dreamed of becoming a mage and finally gaining status and respect, and he almost gets his dream … until things go wrong. Brock is Zed’s best friend, and he plans to follow in his parents’ footsteps and become a merchant, even if he does like to play the game of life by his own rules most of the time. He has no idea that intrigue awaits him and that his father and the head of the merchants have other ideas for him. When Zed and Brock both find themselves thrown into the Adventurers Guild, they discover that their world is a lot more dangerous and complicated than they ever imagined. They… Read more »

I’ve got three reviews for you today, one YA fantasy, one adult sci-fi, and one YA contemporary. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! I really enjoyed this fresh take on fairy tales. The book takes place in a world where a Kiss holds power to fight evil. It’s used as a weapon in war, completely devoid of the outdated concept of love. But there is a faction of people (the Romantics) who have rebelled—they believe that the kiss is being misused, that the meaning of True Love’s Kiss is much more important (and more powerful) than a kiss being used in war. I loved seeing Ivy’s views on the possibility of love change and grow—and her understanding of her way of life evolve as she learns that many of her basic beliefs are not only wrong, they’re dangerous. The romance is sweet, if… Read more »

I’ve got two bite-sized reviews for you today, both fantasies! I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! One thing that I LOVE about this series is that it isn’t told from the perspective of the “special snowflake” or the “Chosen One.” Really, when I think about it, this series would normally be told from the POV of Princess Lyriana—not only a princess, but also a powerful mage. Or even Zell, a Zitochi warrior who can fight and win pretty much any battle. But, no, the story is told through Tilla’s eyes—and there is literally nothing special about her except she happens to be the bastard daughter of the man who’s trying to overthrow the king. She gets caught up in the whirlwind of the revolution and can’t escape. Amazing things are happening all around her: powerful magic, revolutionary plotting and intrigue, massive battles, but she’s… Read more »

I’ve got three more bite-sized reviews for you today. One YA, one MG contemp and one for two MG graphic novels. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! This book will bring out the fandom geek in just about anybody. I loved the fact that Iris couldn’t care less about her grandmother’s famous series, even while the world was busy adoring it. She’d spent her life avoiding her grandmother’s fans, especially after an incident with an overeager and disturbed one nearly ended in tragedy. I will say that Iris’s negativity was a little hard to handle at first—it took me a while to warm up to her, even though I understood why she had a bit of a chip on her shoulder. As Iris was won over by the movie (and, especially, by the people involved), though, she started to win me over as well. I… Read more »

This is one of those books that I’ll be thinking about for a long time. There was just so much substance to it, and it addressed several important topics from unique perspectives. The problem is, this is a tough book to review without spoiling things, so I’m going to be very general in my review. Trust me when I say you should just read it for yourself! What Fed My Addiction: Covers all the issues. Without feeling like an issue book. This book touches on so many topics, and honestly, that’s hard to do well. Oftentimes when I read a book like this, I feel a little overwhelmed or like I’m constantly being hit over the head with another issue, but somehow Gilbert manages to weave them all in so seamlessly that I almost don’t notice they’re there. This is because Gilbert focuses so much more on Danny’s emotional journey than she does on the… Read more »

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I'm a middle grade writer and a book-loving homeschooling mom of three. My blog is called Feed Your Fiction Addiction for a reason - some days I think I might need an intervention!
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